Naples’ fireworks show returns to New Year’s Eve after 2 years

New Year’s Eve fireworks will return to Naples on Dec. 31, when a world record-setting pyrotechnics contractor will triple the number of shots to about 3,000. 

After holding the yearly show Jan. 3 this year due to safety and crowd concerns and canceling the year before, city officials agreed to return the show to the traditional date, noting the Naples Police Department now has 11 additional officers. 

“I think our community will be quite thrilled that this is coming back on New Year’s Eve,” Mayor Teresa Heitmann told City Council during its Oct. 7 meeting. 

In past years, Police Chief Ciro Dominguez warned the 95-officer force was strained due to heavy traffic that night, parties, drinking and driving, so money would be better spent paying more officers to patrol key areas and respond to complaints. Last year, the chief cited the Jan. 1, 2025, attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, when a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd, killing 14 people before police shot him. Due to the influx of tourists, the chief asked to hold the show Jan. 3 this year, a Saturday, when there were fewer tourists. 

Naples’ annual event, which was held from 7:30 to 7:50 p.m., brings roughly 20,000 people to city beaches to watch fireworks launched near Naples Pier. The cancellation prompted hundreds of emails and angry social media posts urging Council to reconsider. Accounting for all costs, including personnel, New Year’s Eve fireworks cost $141,000 because they require a barge, increased police staffing, overtime salaries and other safety costs. 

This year, the City Manager’s Office, Community Services Department, Police Department and Fire Department evaluated operational plans, resources and discussions following fireworks shows and decided Naples could return to the traditional date. But not with Pennsylvania-based Zambelli Fireworks, a company founded in Naples, Italy, in 1893. 

Zambelli’s city contract expired in September 2026 after many years, and the show remained “largely unchanged,” while city staff and residents expressed concerns about its quality, “particularly noticeable delays between individual shots,” Danielle Futia, special events and marketing supervisor, noted in a memo to Council. Although timing adjustments were made, she wrote, they didn’t significantly improve the overall experience. 

Staff reviewed other cities’ shows and found that, for the money, Naples’ show featured fewer shots and less overall production value, so city officials put the contract out to bid — and received no bids. For the price Naples was paying, the memo said, other cities were getting about three times as many shots. 

“I’ve done them for over 20 years and I felt like when I went to this one, … we were lacking something — and I didn’t like the pauses,” Community Services Director Chad Merritt told Council, adding residents complained there were too many pauses. “I don’t feel like the quality was there.” 

Over the years, Merritt said he worked with Zambelli to “dial down” the length of the 30-minute show to compress more shots into 20 minutes, but there were still many gaps. Then he asked for enhanced versions at $45,000 and $65,000. 

“Instead of 3-inch shells and smaller, we got a few more 4-inch, 5-inch and 6-inch shells. It wasn’t significant,” he said, noting it was difficult to tell the difference. “The value wasn’t there. … We started talking to some other cities and one company kept coming up every time that we talked … Pyrotecnico.” 

The Pyrotecnico America 250 Independence Day fireworks display in Washington, D.C., this year broke the Guinness World Records title for the largest fireworks display in history — launching 840,537 individual pyrotechnic effects from 10 locations, shattering the Philippines’ previous 2016 world record of 810,904 fireworks. Pennsylvania-based Pyrotecnico was founded in 1889 in Pietramelara, Italy. 

Merritt noted Pyrotecnico provides fireworks shows for Major League Baseball, concerts and municipalities across Florida, as well as Disney shows. 

“Their whole philosophy was they don’t have any gaps,” he said, adding that all cities praised the quality, continuity and lack of pauses. “I feel like we deserve to have the highest quality and I felt like this was an opportunity … to really see what this company has to offer.” 

He anticipates the fireworks will begin at 6:30 p.m. this year. After the show, he said, Council can determine whether to use Pyrotecnico for July 4. 

“This is awesome,” Council member Bill Kramer said, adding that he was viewing Pyrotecnico’s website. “This is going to be great. It’s next level.” 

Kramer seconded the motion by Vice Mayor Ted Blankenship to approve the special-event application for New Year’s Eve. Staff will proceed with discussions with Pyrotecnico, and council is expected to vote on a contract at its Oct. 21 meeting.